"Fallacies do not cease to be fallacies because they become fashions."
G. K. Chesterton

Thursday, February 23, 2006

Brave New World, Civil War in Iraq, Pink Priests

A very interesting essay by William Lind in the latest TAC. Lind argues that the "war on terror" is ultimately a battle between the forces of medieval Islam and Huxley's Brave New World. "Sadly," says Lind, "the march toward Brave New World is led by the United States." Lind says Christians must not choose a "lesser of two evils" strategy:

What is an American who loves the country he once had, and is even more deeply devoted to the old Western culture than that country reflected, to do? Choosing the lesser of two evils is not an option because if there is one thing Brave New World and the Fourth Generation agree on it is that "Western culture’s got to go." The proper answer to a choice of death by hanging or by firing squad is to refuse to participate in one’s own murder.

Rather, we must do what seems impossible. We must rally the remnants of Western Christian civilization to fight Brave New World and the Fourth Generation simultaneously. Perhaps, as when the Roman Empire fell, all we will be able to accomplish is to keep the Holy Faith and (some) knowledge alive in the monasteries, whatever those may prove to be in our time. Much was then lost, but enough survived to enable the Christian West to rise again...

We do know where to turn. In the West, and perhaps beyond the West, survival will mean turning back, back to the old ideas, old ways of living, old morals and old faith. They have not been gone, or almost so, for so long that they are forgotten. Our task now is to take them down off the shelves, polish them up, and fit them once again for service. When the vacuum appears, we, as cultural conservatives, can and must be ready to fill it. Whoever fills it successfully will be the winner of the war between the Fourth Generation and Brave New World.

Looks like the Episcopal Church could elevate another homosexual to the office of Bishop:

An openly gay man and lesbian woman are among the five candidates vying to become California's eighth Episcopal bishop. The church announced the list of potential candidates on Monday, February 20.

Both Chicago's Bonnie Perry and Seattle's Robert V. Taylor are talented financial administrators with strong experience in congregational renewal and mission outreach. They preside over vibrant, growing churches and both earned their Masters of Divinity Degrees from New York's progressive Union Theological Seminary. Each is in a long-term partnership

Secret Service agents guarding Vice President Dick Cheney when he shot Texas lawyer Harry Whittington on a hunting outing two weeks ago say Cheney was "clearly inebriated" at the time of the shooting.

Agents observed several members of the hunting party, including the Vice President, consuming alcohol before and during the hunting expedition, the report notes, and Cheney exhibited "visible signs" of impairment, including slurred speech and erratic actions.

Civil war, what civil war? I know that as a global empire we can simply create our own reality, according to poohbahs in the White House, but the rest of us ought not be deluded. The situation in Iraq is such that American troops will soon be refereeing a Sunni-Shiite contest: "Iraq is in a Weimar period like Germany in the 1920s which will either end with the country disintegrating or in an authoritarian government taking power."

Wall Street Journal editors write, "that this week's glimpse of hell [in Iraq] will be the medicine that pushes Iraq away from the brink." Why the optimism? The Journal quite hilariously tells readers that Iraqis are just like rootless, deracinated Americans: "Most Iraqis pride themselves on their cosmopolitanism and bridle at questions about their ethnic or sectarian background. 'I am an Iraqi' is a common reply." The Journal says, "Critics of President Bush's Iraq policy have been predicting--and, in some cases, hoping--that without Saddam's iron rule the country was destined for sectarian civil war." In fact, quite the opposite is true. Neocon wunderkinds Doug Feith, Richard Perle, and David Wurmser wrote a paper on behalf of Israel's Likkud Party in support of a policy whereby Israel would "destabilize, and roll-back some of its most dangerous threats," and called the removal of Saddam Hussein “an important Israeli strategic objective." In 1997 Wurmser wrote: "The residual unity of the nation is an illusion projected by the extreme repression of the state." After Saddam, Iraq would "be ripped apart by the politics of warlords, tribes, clans, sects, and key families," he wrote. "Underneath facades of unity enforced by state repression, [Iraq’s] politics is defined primarily by tribalism, sectarianism, and gang/clan-like competition." Contra the Journal, civil war wasn't merely predicted by administration critics, but may have been the whole point.

4 Comments:

I saw the Cheney story a week ago, and thought about linking to it, but I'm cautious about it since the same story hasn't hit any mainstream press. Capitol Hill Blue sometimes has some interesting claims, but the problem is I never see their stories corroborated by any other press. That, plus they're also a very liberal-leaning magazine, which inspires me to take their claims with a bit of salt.

Which is not to defend Cheney, who drunk or not was obviously irresponsible.

Yeah, I guess I have some of the same qualms about Capitol Hill Blue. However, this is the type of story no one talks about. How often have you seen references to the drinking and drug-addled chicanery of the Kennedy clan or some description of Pat Moynihan tripping through bars on a nightly basis?

I just thought it was obvious that if they were out quail hunting that there had to be drinking going on. In all the press hubbub, I never saw that question asked.

Generally, the nastier missives I get come from folks who, because of stance on foreign policy, assume that I'm some sort godless-commie-pinko-limpwristed-Clinton-voting patsy. There isn't a lot I can with people like that, to be honest.

About Me

I am first and foremost a sinner saved by grace. A disciple of Jesus Christ, I'm Reformed theologically, a recovering Baptist, and a paleoconservative politically.
I'm blessed to be the husband of the beautiful and gracious Katherine as well as daddy to Andrew, Joshua, and Jackson.
Dow Blog was largely established to survey the collapsing cultural, ecclesiastical, and political scene from the vantage point of one meager, lowly Christian who strives, and often fails, to write with language that is full of grace and seasoned with salt.